Poto: Rolling Hills Park

[deezler]

Good condish yesterday. Couple damp spots but overall dry and firm. Some layers of wet leaves in some of the shadier hairpin turns make for butt clenching moments when both wheels start sliding out... oof. No trees down (at least major ones) that require dismounting; couple ride-arounds / overs. I broke a couple twigs off that were being annoying into the trail though.

Did not venture over to Hewens.... Just two laps in the park before a round of disc golf on an amazing October day. Beautiful, I love this park.

Saw that there are flags marking a route out into the new lands, but no cutting has been done yet. That is a solid piece of additional terrain to carve up!

Speaking of park expansion, having to take the full detour around the new road to get to the normal parking lot was just ridiculous. Felt like 2 miles of driving just within the park. This place is huge now.

[michael48197]

THIRD ANNUAL BLACK FRIDAY RIDE

...a reminder that we will be having our Black Friday Ride at Rolling Hills and Hewens Creek on Friday Nov. 25 at 10 AM. Come out for the group ride, meet new friends, burn off that T'Day feast and check out the plans for Rolling Hills trail expansion. More details in a week or so...

[Steve_Balogh]

Did several laps at RHP today (Saturday). Great shape, I did venture out to Hewens rode about 75% of it. The areas around the section of small bridges was a bit muddy, the rest was OK. Looks like a good swimming opportunity at Hewens where the one section borders the pond, a bit rough there.

[dnale]

Thinking of riding Saturday and maybe Sunday. I know the park is closed to hunting, but I wanted to see other people's opinions on wearing any blaze orange. Not sure of what land exactly borders the park. I already bagged my deer last weekend so time to get back on the bike.

[michael48197]

No need to worry about hunting and orange clothing. RHP is completely closed to hunting and well fenced off from neighboring land.

[michael48197]

Come out to the Third Annual Black Friday MTB Ride at Rolling Hills and Hewens Creek Parks in Ypsilanti Township on Friday 11/25 at 10 AM. This will be a no-drop group ride and is great for novice MTBer's to get exposure to single track riding and be a great way to burn off that Thanksgiving feast and tryptophan overdose. The ride will be about 13 miles covering about 5.5 miles at Hewens Creek and 5 miles at Rolling Hills along with a few miles of dirt road connecting the two parks. For those who haven't ridden or rarely ride at RHP, you will also get a chance to see the greatly expanded paved paths at RHP and the expansion layout for ~1.5 miles of exciting single-track MTB trail which is now in the final approval stages.

Meet at the Rolling Hills Headquarters building (the lodge) at 10 AM and then we will head out by 10:15 AM. After the ride, we will have some pizza and drinks at the lodge. Please let me know in advance if you plan to attend so I can get a good estimate of riders for the pizza and beverages. Rain date will be Saturday 11/26 at 10 AM. Look for changes on the Rolling Hills or Hewens Creek forums on the MMBA website.

Michael Connolly
RHP Trail Coordinator
734-528-1496

[michael48197]

REMINDER: Third Annual Black Friday Ride, 11/25, 10 AM at Rolling Hills HQ Building/Lodge

I'm pleased to report that Wheels in Motion bike shop has volunteered to sponsor our group ride this Friday by paying for the pizza and beverages. Let's thank Kevin and DeWight at WiM by stopping by their shop on Washtenaw to check out their inventory of gear, bikes, etc.

Weather forecast for Friday AM looks fantastic with low's in the 40's, sunny and little chance of rain. Responses thus far indicate that we might have upwards of 20 riders this year. So, it should be a great day to give thanks for the great local trails and the comradery of our MTB community.

[michael48197]

The weather was perfect, the mud was squishy and the camaraderie superb for the Third Annual Black Friday ride yesterday at RHP and HCP. I've posted a few photos below. I was VERY pleased to see such a large crowd of 35 or more riders and to hear feedback that all had a great time. Looks like we have a good thing going and all seem eager to participate again next year. I think all riders would like to give special thanks to Kevin and DeWight at Wheels in Motion for sponsoring the ride.

Keep an eye out on this board for updates on trail expansion plans and workdays later this fall and early next year. If all goes well in 2012, we might add 2.5 miles more trail next year. Maybe we'll even schedule other events for RHP such as a time trial race - probably an informal one anyway.

Crossing the SE Meadow on the Bemis Road Connector Trail


Riders Regrouping at the Hewens Creek Dam

[Steve_Balogh]

I went back today and did four laps, everything was pretty dry, no wet leaves anywhere.

Got a free airshow from a pair of F-16's doing quite a few passes over the park, that was pretty cool.

[michael48197]

With the nice weather and some free time over these holidays, I finally had a chance to ride RHP for the first time yesterday since the Black Friday Ride a month ago. Except for a few 4-6" logs and some minor dead fall, the trail is in great shape. It's a bit greasy in some areas, however, this year especially in the middle of the day. Probably best to ride in the morning or evening when the trail surface is still frozen at least for another week or two until the trail is fully frozen all day.

No update on trail building plans yet...sorry. I'll post something when a plan is put in place, but it's likely we won't do anything until late winter when the snow clears.

[Steve_Balogh]

Trail was in great shape today, was out there at 2PM. Bummer I put my studded wheelset on my Fatbike, totally unnecessary. The only ice was the wooden bridge crossing. Trail was mostly crunchy thin snow. Exposed dirt was frozen solid.

[Steve_Balogh]

Trail was in great shape, no ice, stayed firm all afternoon. First ride on my new Fatback, saw some other Larry&Nate tracks out there as well, did at least three laps. I cleared a large piece of deadfall blocking the trail about 1/2 way in. Nothing of any use as an obstacle. Only a couple exposed areas a bit greasy mud, but even a normal tire would not sink into it.

[parttime]

Trail was in good shape yesterday. Cleared a bunch of misc. branches on/near the trail and left a few, so if you get the chance, pick up a branch or two. I accessed the park at the new pedestrian/bike entrance to the new paved path on Merritt across from Wiard's. Paved path was not cleared, and was coved with icy footprints. Rode up to the trailhead and saw some tracks that looked like they were from Friday and had been snowed over. I left Rolling Hills at the newer SE connector to Bemis/Stony Creek to go ride Hewen's. After finishing Hewen's and coming back this same route, found some fat tire tracks at Rolling Hills, and followed these to finish off my ride. RH is in great shape, Hewen's still has a few wet areas in the usual spots.

[jeepskate]

Great shape today, lots of drifted snow. I thinkIi have finally realized that I need studded tires (or a fat bike). ran the nevs at 20psi, still not enough bite. Did get to try out my ss as a 96er finally, which was awesome.

[michael48197]

I wanted to ride RHP today, but didn't get my butt moving until ~12:30 PM so I decided to run instead of bike. I made a good choice as the trail was mush in a few of the normal low-lying and south-facing places. There didn't appear to be much evidence of riders attempting the trail in warm or wet conditions.

The sun is getting higher, warmer and rising earlier these days. Assuming it's been a cold night, you can certainly ride RHP as it usually drains pretty well except for a few spots. I recommend that you get OFF the trail by 11-11:30 AM when it starts to thaw. In a few weeks, you might need to finish riding by ~10 AM or so. After any wet or warm night, please stay off the trail with a MTB until maybe April 1 when the permafrost is melted out and there is a full thaw. If you want to ride at night, please wait until 9-10 PM when the trail refreezes. In a few weeks, it might not be possible to ride at night until midnight or not at all.

I cleared some deadfall, but there was one widow-maker at ~2.5 miles in the disc golf sections. I broke off most of the small branches and you should be able to ride under it for now. It's ~3" in diameter and fairly green wood. I didn't want to try and drag it out or break it without succeeding and making a total mess out of the trail. So it's still there. If anyone plans to ride RHP this week, please bring a small saw to cut out the branch as I won't get a chance to return to RHP until next weekend. Let me know in this forum if you cleared the trail.

Also, there's 6-8" standing water on the trail at the beginning of the disc golf section after you cross the paved path at ~2.25ish miles. PLEASE DON'T RIDE THROUGH THE WATER. I recommend that you veer right on the paved path ~50 yards until you pass the water on your left in the trees and then hop back on the the MTB trail after the water.

Finally, you should DEFINITELY stay clear of the west fence line section after the disc golf sections if there is ANY chance of thaw on the surface. The S-climb up to the fence, the sharp down/up S-bend section (where the large deadfall was last year), the area right before the large log pile and the beginning of the section built last year were all a complete mess. ONLY RIDE THIS SECTION IF EVERYTHING IS FROZEN.